Abstract
Health services researchers study access, cost, quality, and the outcome of health care. These researchers frequently use existing data collected by government agencies and private organizations to monitor and evaluate current health care programs and systems and to predict the consequences of proposed new health policies. Primarily focusing on US data sources, this chapter outlines a practical typology, or classification framework, of health care data that is often used by these researchers when they are gathering data and conducting their studies. The typology addresses three important inextricably linked questions. First, what is the basic unit of analysis for the study? These units include individuals, households, groups/populations, health care organizations, health care programs, and national health care systems. Second, how were these data collected? The methods used to collect data include literature reviews, observations, focus groups, surveys, medical records and administrative and billing sources, registries, and vital records. Third, which government agency or private organization collected and is currently holding these data? Government data collection and holding agencies include US health information clearinghouses and libraries, US registries, US government agencies and departments, health programs and systems of other (non-US) nations, and government sponsored international organizations. Private data collecting and holding organizations include health information clearinghouses and libraries; accreditation, evaluation, and regulatory organizations; associations and professional societies; foundations and trusts; health insurance and employee benefits organizations; registries; research and policy organizations; and survey research organizations. To illustrate each of the questions and classifications, many examples are provided and discussed. And many US and other public use data files are identified and described.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aaron HJ, Schwartz WB, Cox MA. Can we say no?: the challenge of rationing health care. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press; 2005.
Aday LA, Cornelius LJ. Designing and conducting health surveys: a comprehensive guide. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2006.
Aday LA, Begley CE, Lairson DR, Balkrishnan R. Evaluating the healthcare system: effectiveness, efficiency, and equity. 3rd ed. Chicago: Health Administration Press; 2004.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). 2013 National healthcare disparities report. Rockville: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2014a. Available at: www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/index.html
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). 2013 National healthcare quality report. Rockville: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2014b. Available at: www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/index.html
American College of Surgeons. National Trauma Data Bank 2013: annual report. Chicago: American College of Surgeons; 2013. Available at: www.ntdb.org
American Hospital Association (AHA). AHA guide to the health care field, 2014. Chicago: Health Forum; 2013a.
American Hospital Association (AHA). AHA hospital statistics, 2014. Chicago: Health Forum; 2013b.
American Hospital Association (AHA). AHA Data Viewer website. 2015. www.ahadataviewer.com
American Medical Association. Caring for the country: a history and celebration of the first 150 years of the American Medical Association. Chicago: American Medical Association; 1997.
Andersen RM. Revisiting the behavioral model and access to medical care: does it matter? J Health Soc Behav. 1995; 36:1–10. Available at: www.mph.ufl.edu/files/2012/01/session6april2RevisitingBehavioralModel.pdf
Anderson C. Multinational comparisons of health system data, 2014. New York: Commonwealth Fund; 2014. Available at: www.commonwealthfund.org
Anderson GF, Squires DA. Measuring the U.S. health care system: a cross-national comparison. Issues in International Health Policy, Commonwealth Fund, Pub. 1412, Vol. 90, June 2010. Available at: www.commonwealthfund.org
Aron-Dine A, Einav L, Finkelstein A. The RAND Health Insurance Experiment, three decades later. J Econ Perspect. 2013;27(1):197–222. Available at: http://economics.mit.edu/files/8400
Arts DGT, de Keizer NF, Scheffer G-J. Defining and improving data quality in medical registries: a literature review, case study, and generic framework. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2002;9(6):600. Available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC349377
Black N. Why we need observational studies to evaluate the effectiveness of health care. BMJ. 1996;312(7040):1215–18. Available at: www.bmj.com/content/312/7040/1215
Borenstein M, Hedges LV, Higgins JPT, Rothstein HR. Introduction to meta-analysis. Chichester: Wiley; 2009.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Medicare and you, 2015. Baltimore: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; 2014a. Available at: www.cms.gov
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Nursing home data compendium 2013 edition. Baltimore: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; 2014b. Available at: www.cms.gov
Chassin MR, Loeb JM, Schmaltz SP, Wachter RW. Accountability measures – using measurement to promote quality improvement. N Engl J Med. 2010;363(7):683–88. Available at: www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb1002320
Children’s Health Care Quality Measures Core Set Technical Assistance and Analytic Program. Strategies for using vital records to measure quality of care in Medicaid and CHIP programs. Medicaid/CHIP Health Care Quality Measures: Technical Assistance Brief 4: Jan 2014, 1–11. Available at: www.medicaid.gov/Medicaid-CHIP-Program-information/By-Topics/Quality-of-Care/Downloads/Using-Vital-Records.pdf
Clancy CM. What is health care quality and who decides? Statement before the Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Health Care, U.S. Senate, 18 Mar 2009. Available at: www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/2009/03/t20090318b.html
Culyer AJ. The dictionary of health economics, second edition. Northampton: Edward Elgar; 2010.
Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care Project. 2015. www.dartmouthatlas.org
Davis KE. Access to health care of adult men and women, ages 18–64, 2012. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Statistical Brief #461. Rockville: U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); 2014. Available at: www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st461/stat461.pdf
Davis K, Stremikis K, Squires D, Schoen C. Mirror, mirror on the wall: how the performance of the U.S. health care system compares internationally. Pub. No. 1755. New York: Commonwealth Fund; 2014. Available at: www.commonwealthfund.org
Donabedian A. The definition of quality and approaches to its assessment. Vol. 1. Explorations in quality assessment and monitoring. Ann Arbor: Health Administration Press; 1980.
Feldstein PJ. Health care economics. 7th ed. New York: Thomson Deimar Learning; 2011.
Gliklich RE, Dreyer NA, editors. Registries for evaluating patient outcomes: a user’s guide. 2nd ed. AHRQ Publication No. 10-EHC049. Rockville: U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2010. p. 15–16. Available at: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/ehc/products/74/531/Registries2nd ed Final to Eisenberg 9-15-10.pdf
Halsey MF, Albanese SA, Thacker M, The Project of the POSNA Practice Management Committee. Patient satisfaction surveys: an evaluation of POSNA members’ knowledge and experience. J Pediatr Orthop. 2015;35(1):104–7.
Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI). 2013 health care cost and utilization report. Washington, DC: Health Care Cost Institute; 2014. Available at: www.healthcostinstitute.org
Healthy People 2020. www.healthypeople.gov
Higgins JPT, Green S, editors. Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell; 2008.
Huston P, Naylor CD. Health services research: reporting on studies using secondary data sources. Can Med Assoc J. 1996;155(12):1697–1702. Available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Johnson TP, editor. Handbook of health survey methods. New York: Wiley; 2014.
Kane RL, Radosevich DM. Conducting health outcomes research. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Learning; 2011.
Krueger RA, Casey MA. Focus groups: a practical guide for applied research. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage; 2009.
Larsson S, Lawyer P, Garellick G, Lindahl B, Lundstrom M. Use of 13 disease registries in 5 countries demonstrates the potential to use outcome data to improve health care’s value. Health Aff. 2012;31(1):220–7.
Lee K. Global institutions: the World Health Organization (WHO). New York: Routledge; 2008.
Levy D, Brink S. A change of heart: how the people of Framingham, Massachusetts, helped unravel the mysteries of cardiovascular disease. New York: Knopf; 2005.
Mullner RM, editor. Encyclopedia of health services research. 2 Vol. Thousand Oaks: Sage; 2009, xxix.
National Cancer Institute. SEER as a research resource. NIH Publication No. 10-7519. Bethesda: SEER Program, National Cancer Institute; 2010. Available at: www.seer.cancer.gov/about/factsheets/SEER_Research_Brochure.pdf
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). National health survey: the principal source of information on the health of the U.S. population. Hyattsville: National Center for Health Statistics; 2010. Available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/brochure2010January.pdf
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Health, United States, 2013: with special feature on prescription drugs. Hyattsville: National Center for Health Statistics; 2014a. Available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus13.pdf
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Summary of current surveys and data collection systems. National Center for Health Statistics; 2014b. Available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/factsheets/factsheet_summary1.pdf
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The essential guide to health care quality. Washington, DC: National Committee for Quality Assurance; 2006. Available at: www.ncqa.org
National Research Council, Committee on National Statistics. Vital statistics: summary of a workshop. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2009. Available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK219877/
Newhouse JP, The Insurance Experiment Group. Free for all?: lessons from the RAND health experiment. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1993.
NORC at the University of Chicago. Social science research in action. Chicago: NORC at the University of Chicago; 2011. Available at: www.norc.org/PDFs/Brochures-Collateral/NORC_Book_Social_Science_Research_in_Action.pdf
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Guide to HHS surveys and data resources. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; n.d. Available at: www.aspe.hhs.gov/sp/surveys/index.cfm
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Health at a glance 2013: OECD indicators. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; 2013. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1787/health_glance-2013-en
Osborn R, Moulds D, Squires D, et al. International survey of older adults finds shortcomings in access, coordination, and patient-centered care. Health Aff. 2014;33(12):2247–55.
Painter MJ, Chernew ME. Counting change: measuring health care prices, costs, and spending. Princeton: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; 2012. Available at: www.rwjf.org
Perrin JM. Health services research for children with disabilities. Milbank Q. 2002;80(2):303–24. Available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690116/
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. 2014 Biopharmaceutical Research Industry Profile. Washington, DC: Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; 2014. Available at: www.phrma.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2014_PhRMA_PROFILE.pdf
RAND Corporation. RAND Corporation: annual report 2013. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation; 2013. Available at: www.rand.org/pubs/corporate_pubs/CP1-2013.html
Rhoades JA, Cohen SB. The long-term uninsured in America, 2009–12 (selected intervals): estimates for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population under age 65. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Statistical Brief #464. Rockville: U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); 2014. Available at: www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st464/stat464.pdf
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Consumer attitudes on health care costs: insights from focus groups in four U.S. cities. Princeton: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; 2013. Available at: www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2013/rwjf403428
Stagnitti MN, Carper K. National health care expenses in the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population, distributions by types of service and source of payment, 2012. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Statistical Brief #456. Rockville: U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); 2014. Available at: www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st456/stat456.pdf
Swartout KA. Encyclopedia of associations: national organizations of the U.S. Farmington Hills: Gale Cengage Learning; 2014. Available at: www.gale.cengage.com
Wakefield MK. Statement by HRSA administrator Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. on the National Practitioner Data Bank Public Use File, 9 Nov 2011. Available at: www.npdb.hrsa.gov/resources/publicDataStatement.jsp
Wennberg JE. Tracking medicine: a researcher’s quest to understand health care. New York: Oxford University Press; 2010. p. 1–13.
Williamson A, Hoggart B. Pain: a review of three commonly used pain rating scales. J Clin Nurs. 2008;14(7):798–804. Available at: www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2005.01121.x/pdf
Workman TA. Engaging patients in information sharing and data collection: the role of patient-powered registries and research networks. AHRQ Community Forum White Paper, AHRQ Publication No. 13-EHC124-EF. Rockville: U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2013. Available at: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/ehc/assets/File/Patient-Powered-Registries-white-paper-130911.pdf
World Health Organization (WHO). World health survey, 2002, B – individual questionnaire. 2002. Available at: www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/en/
World Health Organization (WHO). World health statistics, 2014. Geneva: WHO Press; 2014. Available at: www.who.int
Xu F, Mawokomatanda T, Flegel D, et al. Surveillance for certain health behaviors among states and selected local areas – behavioral risk factor surveillance system, United States, 2011. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep (MMWR). 2014;63(9):1–149. Available at: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6309.pdf
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Mullner, R.M. (2019). Health Services Data: Typology of Health Care Data. In: Levy, A., Goring, S., Gatsonis, C., Sobolev, B., van Ginneken, E., Busse, R. (eds) Health Services Evaluation. Health Services Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8715-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8715-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-8714-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-8715-3
eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine